Dance with Me
by FrecklesXOXO
Summary: When Raphael rescues a young woman named Leena, he is unprepared for how much she changes him and his world and how much he changes her in return. As they grow closer Raphael must decide if he will continue to go solo or step outside his comfort zone and learn to dance with a partner. Romance/Humor/General - Raphael/OC and Possible others- M for language/adult content/mild violence
1. Mutant Encounters

Hi all! Thanks for being curious enough to check out my first fan fictions story on here! I'm looking forward to writing this story as I just started to get back into TMNT and remembering why I loved it so much as a kid. This story is going to be pretty much a basic fun story of the Turtles and my own OC Leena! Mostly for laughs, aws and a few OMG moments. :D It doesn't really specify when the story takes place (as it's not really necessary to the story) though it does specify that the Turtles are older, and I'm really just having fun with this idea I had, so I hope you enjoy reading! I would love to hear comments from anyone who reads, always makes my day to get some feedback! Thanks!

Update: Ok, so this story may develop a bit more than I originally had in mind. Mostly because of my non-stop brainstorming and plotting. Lol. SO this may end up getting a bit of drama added in, a bit of a deeper plot, some interesting/fun twists might show up and I may even add a few more OCs to this too. I hope anyone reading this will stay with me as I begin to really lay out this story! Please, comment, favorite, follow, share with friends! You, my readers, are what keep me motivated to write!

Also, forgot to add a disclaimer but here it is for the whole of this story: I DO NOT OWN THE NINJA TURTLES (though I wish I did) OR ANY OF THE ASSOCIATED CHARACTERS THAT GO WITH IT! I merely own my OCs that you will see in this story. Like Leena. I own her for sure. Haha.

Alright, now that that's out of the way, ENJOY!

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"Dude, Raph, you know Master Splinter won't be happy about this."

"Shut it Mikey, it's not like I had much of a choice."

"You could have left her there technically, it's not like the Foot Clan would want her."

"Donnie, they saw her with me, ya know they would have taken her just for that reason."

"All of you, what's done is done and she's here so we might as well just figure out what to do about the situation moving forward. Obviously we'll have to talk to Master Splinter about this, but for now, let's just wait for her to wake up."

"Always the voice of reason Leo."

"What if she freaks out?"

"Well Raph is the scariest looking one of all of us so if he didn't scare her…"

"She didn't see me, she ran into my shell and that knocked her out cold."

"Oh man Raph, you sure have a way with woman!"

Leena could hear the voices of four young men around her, but for the moment she was still relatively incapacitated. She could tell that she was lying down on something, most likely a couch, and that she had a pretty bad headache. Moaning slightly, she shifted her place a bit and felt more of her consciousness returning.

"Sssshhh, dudes, I think she's waking up!"

"Mikey calm down, it's not like you haven't seen a girl before."

"Well, not one this cute and not in our lair up close and personal."

"Except for April…"

"Yeah, but Donnie's got dibs on April anyway."

"I don't have dibs on her Mikey, she's a person. You can't dibs a person."

Whoever was standing around her certainly liked to talk and from what she could make out, there were four of them all together. Her eyes fluttered slightly, her vision blurred and somewhat dark. Blinking her bright blue eyes a few more times, she could finally make things out a bit better and she could tell that she was inside and looking up at a high ceiling.

"She's awake!'

"Shut up Mikey, I don't think she'll appreciate you yelling when she just woke up."

"Raphael, chill."

Leena finally felt awake enough to sit up and take a good look at her surroundings so she slowly pushed herself up, leaning back on her elbows and finally taking a look at the guys who had been talking over her. For a moment, everything was silent as her brain tried to make sense of just what exactly she was looking at. Standing around the end of the couch she was on were what looked like four green men in different colored headbands, but after a few moments of really looking at them, Leena realized they actually looked like giant humanoid turtles… with headbands.

"Good morning!" The orange banded turtle greeted happily, waving at Leena enthusiastically. Leena simply stared back at him dumbfounded. After a few moments of utter silence, the four of them staring at her and she staring back, Leena rubbed a hand over her eyes as if trying to wipe away the image in front of her.

"I must have hit my head a lot harder than I thought…" She mumbled. Taking a deep breath, she let her hand fall away from her face and she stared at the weird humanoid turtles again. "Yup, hit my head really hard." She nodded her head as if to agree with herself, her black hair spilling over her shoulders in a tumble of curls as she did so.

"Your head's fine." The red banded turtle huffed, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Raph, I'm sure this is a lot for her to take in, be nice." The blue banded turtle said, causing the other glare at him a bit. The blue turtle turned his attention back to Leena then, stepping forward and smiling slightly. "What he means is, we know that looking at us you might feel like you're dreaming or hallucinating but we're very real."

"Mutant turtles to be specific." The purple banded turtle added in with a grin of his own.

"Yeah that just got way more weird and specific." Leena replied, her face taking on a look of anxiety as she continued to stare at them.

"But we're totally awesome dudette! No need to freak!" The orange one chimed in, coming up to lean on the shoulder of the blue banded turtle.

"Totally weird." Leena replied, not even sure what she should think about the whole situation. Her reply brought a small chuckle from the purple banded turtle and a smirk from the red one. At this point, It was very easy for Leena to think she'd simply gone totally crazy, but a small part of her was rather fascinated by the fact that this could possibly be very real.

"I guess we might as well introduce ourselves since this can't possibly get any more awkward." The blue banded turtle spoke up, pushing the orange banded turtle off his shoulder. "My name's Leonardo, and these are my brothers."

"I'm Michelangelo!" The Orange banded one said enthusiastically.

"My name is Donatello." The purple banded turtle said with a grin.

"Raphael." The red banded turtle added in gruffly.

"Um, nice to meet you all?" Leena said hesitantly, silently saying each of the names over again as she looked them, her lips forming each name as her gaze locked on to each one.

"And your name is…?" Leena's attention snapped over to the red banded turtle named Raphael when his voice, sounding somewhat irritated, interrupted her thoughts.

"Oh, my name's Leena." She replied back, still sounding somewhat distracted.

"Leena, that's pretty." Michelangelo grinned, coming forward and leaning his hands on the couch arm.

"Thank you… I like all of your names too, are they all based on old artists and inventors?" She asked, causing Leonardo to smile in response.

"You would be correct."

"I'm actually surprised that I'm not freaking out more right now… given the circumstances." She said suddenly, moving so that she was sitting up on the couch and not leaning on her elbows.

"I think we're just as surprised." Leo replied.

"Though, I'm not sure how much of this has all really sunk in for me, so that may explain it." Leena continued, looking over at Leonardo with a small smile. "I guess it really can't be helped though I mean, at least you aren't mean or trying to hurt me or something."

"Nah, we're more like good guys! It was Raph who helped you out when you lost consciousness! Though, it was kinda his fault you got knocked out to begin with…" Raphael smacked Mickey in the back of the head at that point.

"I remember running around a corner and smacking me head into something hard."

"That was, uh, my shell you slammed into." Raphael replied, his voice sounding a bit sheepish before he instantly changed his tune to something tougher. "Though you really should have been paying attention to where you were going." Leena raised an eyebrow at him and then laughed.

"You're probably right. I was in a bit of hurry so I didn't really think about running into someone in my haste." She laughed again.

"Well, are you hungry? Cause I'm feeling like pizza would be good right now." Mickey said happily, grinning at Leena who laughed again.

"Sure, pizza sounds awesome. I'll get to cross eating pizza with Mutant turtles off my bucket list."

"Whoa, you really have that as a to-do on your bucket list?" Mickey asked. He sounded so sincerely surprised that Leena couldn't but help but laugh again, shaking her head.

"No, it's not; I was just making a joke because of how odd this whole situation is. I mean, it really is kind of funny." She explained.

"Yeah, I can see how this would seem pretty funny." Donatello spoke up, his own face cracking into a wide grin. Mickey was the next to start chuckling while Leo grinned and even Raph managed to smirk a bit.

"Alright let's order some pizza!" Mickey cheered, heading off towards the kitchen. The other turtles began to follow after him and it was Raph, bringing up the rear, who turned back and walked over to Leena, holding out his hand.

"You comin?" He asked. Leena smiled up at him and without hesitation, took his hand with her own.

"Yes I am."


	2. Be Our Guest

Chapter 2 is up! I'm going to try to commit to AT LEAST 1 chapter every month! If I can get more in a month then I will, but I will hopefully be able to stick to once a month posting for sure! Anyway, so after writing this chapter I realized I was taking an approach to the characters that more resembled the 2012 universe, but like, a few years later, where the turtles have grown up and all that. I am taking a few liberties though and I'll be adding some stuff I liked about the Turtles from the 2003 Universe. So I hope you guys enjoy the new chapter, please leave me comments if you are so inclined! I love getting feedback from you!

Update: As the new 2012 Universe is still unfinished, I may take a few liberties with characters and such as far as who is still around, relationships... that sort of thing. Creative story license and all. Though, personalities will pretty much remain the same for all characters.

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Together with the turtle brothers, Leena had headed into the kitchen and four large pizzas of various types ordered. Wanting to be considerate of their guest, Mikey had been sure to find out what Leena liked on her pizza and was surprised when all she had requested was a simple pineapple pizza.

"That's all you want on your pizza? Pineapple? No ham or pepperoni or anything?" He had sounded like it was the end of the world when he said it. Leena giggled lightly and nodded her head, shrugging her shoulders as she explained.

"I like pizza simple, Cheese and pineapple is perfect for me."

"Okaaaay, as long as that makes you happy." Mikey replied with a grin.

"You know what would make me happy? Pizzas without weird ass ingredients like skittles or imitation crab." Raph added, glaring at Mikey who continued to grin.

"Yeah Mikey, can we get like, a three-meat pizza and call it a done deal?" Leonardo asked, sitting down at the table.

"Man, you guys are no fun. Pizza is only good when you customize it with all your favorite stuff!"

"Mikey, what you call customized I think the rest of us would call overdoing it." Donatello replied wearily. Mikey let out a huff and pulled out his T-phone to place the order.

"Fine! I'll just get one special pizza for myself and the rest of you can enjoy your boring pizzas." Leena watched the exchange between the four of them in amusement, noting that despite being mutant turtles, they did act like a bunch of young guys, no different from ordinary humans. It was probably that thought that allowed Leena's anxiety over what they were to completely disappear. As Michelangelo placed the pizza order, Donatello took a seat at the table next to Leonardo while Raphael moved to lean against a nearby counter, arms crossed over his chest. Leonardo motioned for Leena to come take a seat at the table with them and as soon as Michelangelo had finished placing the order, he too sat down at the table.

At this point, all the attention was suddenly focused on Leena as the turtles looked at her, all of them obviously curious to know about their sudden guest. Leena smiled sheepishly around at all of them, unsure if she liked this sudden focus of attention on herself and much more interested in learning about the turtle brothers instead.

"So Leena, how old are you?" Mikey was the first to bring a question to the table, leaning forward on his elbows to grin at her.

"I'll be nineteen in October." She replied, leaning back in her chair.

"Tell us a bit about yourself; it's not often we have guests, as you can imagine." Leonardo said with a chuckle.

"Um, ok, that's a bit vague so I guess I'll summarize?" She replied with a laugh. "Well, I'm living on my own, I recently graduated from High School though I had hoped to go straight to College to study dance but it's a bit too expensive for me to afford right now, so I'm trying to save up. I've danced since I was four, so I'm well-trained in all styles of dance, and I have a dream of being a professional dancer. I like dogs, my astrological sign is Scorpio, my favorite color is Mint, I don't like broccoli but I love cucumbers, my favorite food is pasta and I'm terrified of enclosed spaces."

"Claustrophobic?" Donatello asked.

"Terribly so." Leena replied.

"What's your favorite dance style?" Leonardo asked next.

"Ballet; it's difficult and requires the most discipline but I think it's one of the most beautiful dance styles. I think Lyrical would be my next favorite, though I tend to mix the two together when I dance. Sort of, my own style that I've developed over the years."

"What sort of dog would you get if you could have any dog in the whole world?" Mikey asked.

"I would love to have a white husky girl with blue eyes."

"What would you name her?" Mikey replied.

"Don't know, I'd have to see her first. Name's come better after you've seen the dog I think."

"Agreed! Though, if you ever get one, you should let me help you name it, cause I'm awesome at naming stuff." Mikey sounded particularly proud of that skill as he said it.

"I'll make sure I do." Leena replied with a smile.

"Sweet!"

"Do you like science or anything technical?" Donatello followed up.

"Well, I was always good at Biology in school, but when it comes to technical stuff I'm not all that great. I can work a computer at least."

"How about video games?" Leonardo questioned.

"Well, I've never really been able to play many video games but I do like single player RPGs."

"Cool, you should play with us! We have a couple of really fun games here." Leonardo replied.

"Why were you running through such a stingy back alley earlier?" Raph suddenly asked, looking at Leena inquisitively. Everyone looked at Leena as she went quiet for a moment, obviously thrown by Raphael's sudden interest in what had happened earlier that day."

"Oh, um, I was running late, to an audition, actually." She replied somewhat hesitantly; she sounded like she didn't want to talk about it.

"An audition? For like a show or something? That's awesome! Did you make it?" Mikey asked.

"Yeah, it was an audition for a Broadway show, and because I was running late I decided to take a shortcut through the back streets to get there. But, obviously I didn't make it." She laughed lightly. "I wasn't paying attention and knocked myself out apparently." She shook her head.

"Right, that's a bummer. Sorry you missed your audition." Mikey looked a bit crestfallen for her and Leena smiled appreciatively at him.

"It's ok, things happen for a reason in my opinion and if I hadn't run into Raphael, I wouldn't have ended up here talking with all of you and being invited for pizza." She grinned, easily moving the subject on to something else. The guys didn't seem to really notice much, though Raphael was still a bit standoff-ish, as if he wasn't completely convinced with her explanation.

"So what about you guys? I mean, I get that your mutant turtles and all, but where did you come from and how have you managed to stay hidden from the public this long?" Leena asked, turning the tables and asking them questions.

"Well, it's a bit of a long story…" Leonardo began.

"And it all began about eighteen years ago when our Master and father, Splinter, bought us in a pet store and accidentally dropped us in a strange substance we call ooze." Donatello picked up. He began to explain to Leena their long journey from baby turtles to mutants. Leena listened with rapt attention, obviously fascinated. They only paused for a moment when Mikey left to go grab the pizza from the delivery guy. Once he returned and everyone had grabbed a couple of slices to eat, Donatello had continued the tale.

"So you guys know ninjitsu because of your Master, who is also like your father since he raised you, and he was a human but now he's a mutant rat and you were all transformed by this weird alien substance called ooze that was brought here by an invading alien race called the Kraang?" Leena summarized, biting into her pizza.

"That's right. Sounds super crazy but it's the truth." Leonardo replied, setting down his pizza for a moment. "We've been using our skills to help keep New York City safe over the years, but for the most part we've lived in solitude in the sewers."

"You know, looking around at this place, I would have thought it was some industrial building converted into a large condo or something, but knowing that this place is somewhere in the sewer and you guys made it was it is; that's impressive."

"Thanks!" Came the collective reply.

"I still think it's crazy to know you guys have done so much to help keep our city safe and barely anyone knows about you and all that hard work you've put into it." Leena went on, looking to all of them. "I know how tough it is to work hard at something and be proud of what you've done but never receive any recognition for it… I don't know how you've done it for all these years."

"We don't need thanks for what we've done; knowing that we could help and then doing so was enough. This is our city too, even if we live in the sewers, and we want to keep it safe for everyone." Leonardo replied with a smile.

"Well, on behalf of everyone living above you in this city, thanks." Leena smiled, earning a round of smiles from everyone, except Raphael, in return.

"So, who wants to play some video games?" Mikey asked.


	3. It's a Hard-Knock Life

CHAPTER 3! I DID IT! Lol. Sorry for such a late update everyone! My summer math class started this month and the summer musical I'm in went through Tech week and opening this month. Plus with my work schedule I've been just a LITTLE bit busy. BUT, to make up for it, this chapter is a lot longer for your reading enjoyment! You get to learn a bit more about Leena's life in this chapter!

Also, I have a couple updates! Someone asked me if I would be pairing Donatello up with an OC and I can assure all who are reading my story that due to my recent brainstorming and imagination, I will be pairing up all the boys with an OC. And I can tell you I've had sooo much fun coming up with the OCs for each of them Turtles. They are all very different from each other and will compliment the boys well I think. For this story you'll only be meeting them in passing, but I will have a few small spin-off stories (Which I'm already working on) that will detail the other OCs' and their romances with the boys! So please look forward to that!

As always, thank you to anyone reading my story, thank you for the reviews and even more so, thank you to anyone who has add this to their follow/notification list! That makes me so happy to see! It really does encourage me to write! Anyway, without further ado, here's chapter three! :D

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"No dude, don't go around that corner, you're gonna die!" Mikey sat on the floor next to Leo, a ball of tension as he watched Leo play a zombie game they had recently acquired, looking like he was about to fly off the floor in his excitement.

"Mikey, chill. It's my turn to play and I'll play the way I want to play!" Leo snapped back, his own irritation starting to rise with Mikey's backseat playing. Donatello glanced up from the gadget he was currently working on, a smirk slipping across his face before he returned his full attention back to his work. Leena was sitting on the back of the couch, watching the guys play, Raphael sitting just blow her on the couch and leaning against an arm rest.

"OH MY GOD LEO LOOK OUT!" Mikey yelled, jumping to his feet as zombies came running straight at the screen.

"I SEE IT, I SEE IT! BE QUIET!" Leo shouted back, wildly hitting buttons to try and take down the zombies rushing his character. Leena couldn't help but chuckle as she watched the scene unfold, leaning forward to rest her chin in her hands.

"Is it like this every time you guys play video games?" She asked, looking down at Raphael who seemed more bored then anything.

"Usually." Raph replied without looking at her. "Though, sometimes we jump Mikey if he gets really irritating." With that he smirked to himself and glanced back up at Leena. "You entertained?" His tone was a bit gruff, but she could just make out a note of amusement in his voice as he asked her the question.

"Quite." She replied back with a small smirk of her own. "You all seem to have a lot of fun together, that's for sure."

"Well, I wouldn't exactly say we have fun all the time. Right now I doubt Leo would call that fun." Raph replied, gesturing to the fact that Leo's character had just died and Mikey was now doing a backflip to avoid getting punched by Leo. Raph shook his head and chuckled, crossing his arms over his chest. "It's definitely never a dull moment around here though; something is always going on."

"It would seem so… I envy you guys…" Leena replied, quirking an eyebrow as Donatello quickly moved in front of the TV and picked up the controller. "Wonder how long it'll take for them to notice their game has been commandeered." Raph chuckled in reply and shrugged.

"Depends on how long Mikey can keep back flipping away from Leo." Looking away from Donatello and turning his full attention back to Leena; Raph gave her a curious look. "What do you mean you envy us? Cause I can point out a lot of things to envy about you, like not being a mutant stuck living underground."

"No, I meant, I envy your family, the relationship you have with each other." She replied, watching Donatello play the zombie game. "I don't have a family." She finished, causing Raph to stop short with his reply. "It gets lonely when you're by yourself all the time."

"What about your parents?" Raph asked, genuinely curious.

"I don't know… I never knew them. I grew up in an Orphanage." Leena replied honestly.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"

"It's ok." Leena cut him off with a smile. "It's not a huge deal, it's something I came to terms with a long time ago. " Raph nodded, not really sure what to say. "I mean, I had a lot of close friends in the orphanage, but I got moved around through foster homes a lot so I never got too close to people as a result."

"None of the foster homes you stayed in kept you long term?" Raph asked, curiosity getting the better of him.

"There was one… and I really did like them, but they ended up falling into a bad financial situation and they just couldn't afford to take care of me." Leena was looking at Raph as she said this, but her gaze was far away, as she thought back to a time in her life she'd been really happy.

"Do you want a soda?" Raph suddenly interjected, pulling Leena from her thoughts. She gazed at him for a moment, before nodding her head.

"Yeah, actually, a soda sounds good, Thanks." Raphael smiled at her, and it was the first genuine smile Leena had seen out of him. Raph was usually smirking from what she could tell, but here he was smiling at her in a way that made her smile right back.

"Would you grab me one too?" Donatello interjected without looking from the game. "I'm busy trying to beat Mikey's score now."

"I'll get you a soda Donnie, you don't need to tell me why you can't get it." Raph barked back, rolling his eyes and standing up from the couch. Leena stifled a laugh and stood up too.

"I'll come with you." She offered, Raph nodding in reply and motioning her to follow. "Do you think the other's might want one?"

"They can get their own sodas, besides; I think Mikey is too preoccupied with bugging the hell out of Leo." Raph shrugged. The two of them made their way out of the main room and back towards the kitchen again, discussing their favorite types of soda. They rounded the corner leading into the kitchen and were stopped short by someone they hadn't expected to run into just yet; Splinter.

"I think cherry coke would be my favorite, I just prefer Coke to Pepsi." Leena was saying.

"I'm more partial to Coke myself, Pepsi can be too sweet if you ask me…"

"Raphael, what is going on here?" Splinter's voice cut Raph's thought short and they both looked up to see him standing next to the fridge with a cheese-sicle in hand.

"Oh, Master Splinter!" Raph greeted, surprised. "Um, I can totally explain why she's here." He obviously hadn't been prepared to talk to Splinter about Leena just yet, mostly because he'd been hoping Leo would do it.

"Please do." Splinter replied with a stern look, his gaze briefly flicking to Leena before focusing back on Raphael.

"Well you see Sensei, when we went topside for our usual patrol, we noticed the Foot Clan was on the move and we had split up to follow a few different groups moving about the city and then I happened to get ambushed by Fish Legs and a group of foot bots and so I tried to lose them in the back alleys and it was at this point that Leena here ran into my shell and got knocked out cold. Because Fish Legs was hot on my shell I knew I couldn't just leave an innocent laying there defenseless and I knew Fish Legs might kidnap her if he saw Leena with me at all." Raphael explained, Splinter silent and impassive through the whole explanation.

"While I'm not sure bringing this young woman here was the best idea, I do commend your act to protect an innocent." Splinter replied calmly. "And since it can't be changed, I am happy to welcome a new guest to our home. I am Splinter; it is nice to meet you." Splinter bowed formally to Leena, a smile on his face. Raph seemed to let out a sigh of relief at Splinter's response and both he and Leena visibly relaxed.

"Oh, it's very nice to meet you as well Master Splinter, I'm Leena and thank you so much for your hospitality, I am very grateful to you and your sons." Leena replied, returning the bow.

"I must admit, it is nice to have a new face around here; as I'm sure you can imagine, we don't have many guests here." Splinter chuckled. Leena smiled sweetly at him and nodded. "I'm honored to have been given the opportunity to meet such new and interesting friends." Leena replied, getting a small look of surprise from Raph at the word friend. Splinter nodded his head and moved to stand beside them.

"That's wonderful to hear. I hope my sons haven't imposed upon you too much…?"

"Not at all, I feel like I should be the one apologizing for imposing! Your sons have been nothing but generous hosts." Leena replied with a bright smile.

"Good." Splinter replied with a nod of his head. "Well, I shall go and check on the others briefly and then return to my meditation." And with that, Splinter left the kitchen. Raphael and Leena looked at each other for a moment and Raph let out a sigh of relief.

"Well, that went a lot better than I thought it would." He chuckled. "Leo is usually a bit better at dealing with Splinter and I just tend to end up in trouble with him." Leena smiled.

"It seems this time things worked out better for you then."

"Yup! Let's get those sodas and get back out there; we can go steal the controller from Donnie." Leena laughed and followed Raph to the fridge, taking the soda he passed to her.

"Sounds like a good plan to me." She replied.

The rest of the evening passed pleasantly, the Turtles and Leena passing the time with more video games, a movie and then a humorous game of hide and seek, which had proved that Leena, despite not being a Ninja like the guys, was the best at hiding and not getting caught.

"Honestly, you guys try to run around and show off too much while you're playing… it's like, who can be the most Ninja." Leena had laughed. "If I stood still and just watched, it was so easy to spot you rushing about to new hiding spots."

"Well that explains how you could find us… still doesn't explain why we could never find you…" Raph replied, eyeing her suspiciously.

"Yeah, how did you do it Leena? You don't even live here so how did you find such awesome hiding spots?" Mikey added, throwing his arm around Leena's shoulders.

"That, boys, shall be my own little secret." Leena said with a smirk.

"We'll definitely have to play again next time you come to visit." Leonardo smiled.

"Next time?" Leena looked at him surprised.

"What, you weren't planning to come back?" Raph asked, a little gruffly.

"Well no, I just, I didn't know you would want me to come back since you live so secretly."

"But that's why you have to come back! We don't have that many friends who can come hang out!" Mikey said cheerfully.

"You could even meet our other friend April next time!" Donatello added.

"That sounds like a great idea." Leena smiled. "Though, I don't know if I could find this place on my own, how will I get in contact with you so I can tell you to come meet me?" Leena asked.

"We have phones!" Donnie replied happily, pulling out his T-phone. "We can exchange numbers."

"Ok." Leena pulled out her own phone and quickly exchanged numbers. "Cool! Then I will be sure to stay in touch!" Leena said happily, beaming at the guys. "Thanks for everything; the past few hours have been pretty awesome." She said.

"Come on, I'll lead you back up to the surface." Raph said, motioning for Leena to follow him. She quickly hugged Leo, Mikey and Donnie, surprising them a bit with the friendly gesture, but each of them returned her hug. And with that, she was heading back up to the surface with Raphael.

As they moved through the sewers they talked and joked, mostly discussing the silliness of the night and lamenting that it wasn't often they could act so silly and carefree now that they weren't kids.

"I wish I could go back to being a kid again." Leena said. "Things were so much simpler and I didn't really have to worry about anything except whether I would be adopted or not."

"That must have been hard, not having a family to call your own and wondering if you would ever have one. I mean, my life isn't normal or perfect but I was always glad to have my brothers and our father." Raph replied sincerely.

"It could be touch, but I wasn't one to really dwell on what could be and I just, enjoyed what I had." Leena replied. "When you grow up with so little, you learn to appreciate so much more."

"Deep." Raph replied with a small smile.

"I'd like to think so." They both laughed.

At this point, they had made it to the surface, standing in an Alley just above the manhole they had come out of, Raph really studying Leena for the first time as they gazed at one another. The first thought that came to mind as he looked at her was that she was very beautiful with her pale skin and black hair, but it was her eyes that he liked the most; they were such a deep blue and so bright. It was like there was a fire burning behind them and it made him feel like she had a wild spirit, something he could relate to.

After a few silent moments between them, Leena smiled at Raph, who returned it, and she leaned forward to hug him. At first Raphael seemed a little uncomfortable with the gesture, but after a moment he returned her hug, wrapping his arms around her waist and holding her just a little bit closer. He noticed she smelled nice; like almonds and vanilla and he quite enjoyed it.

"Thank you, truly. I haven't had so much fun in a really long time." Leena said. "I'm actually glad I ran into you." She giggled and Raph just grinned back.

"I think my brothers are pretty happy you did too." He replied.

"Are you?" She questioned teasingly.

"Well sure, it's not like it was a bad thing." Raph replied a little bashfully. Leena just giggled again. "So where do you live? I'll get you there safely." He offered, starting to walk further into the alley. "We'll have to stick to alleys and all, but you don't have to worry about anything with me here. I'll keep you safe."

"Oh, no worries, I can totally get home from here by myself." Leena replied quickly. "I wouldn't want to trouble you with that!"

"It's no trouble at all." Raph replied with a grin. "I don't get to come up here too often for leisure so this is a nice change for me anyway."

"Really though, I know the way from the main streets and it's not too far…"

"I'm not letting a young woman walk around the streets of New York by herself at this time of night; I'm walking you home." Raph replied, cutting Leena off and looking her dead in the eye. His tone suggested he wasn't going to argue about it and so Leena let out a little sigh and nodded her head.

"Alright, you win." She replied meekly.

"Good. Now what street are you on?"

As it turned out, the place Leena called home was further then she had originally let on, plus, it wasn't even much of a home. Leena had directed Raph to one New York's poorer neighborhoods and tucked among other old and decaying houses was the one that Leena called hers. The only problem, it wasn't actually Leena's at all and you could tell that it was an abandoned home with boarded up windows and doors and the graffiti that littered the walls where paint how long since peeled away.

"You're living here?" Raph said in disbelief, still staring at the wreck of a house.

"Yeah… I have been for a few months. No one has bothered with this place because it's so old and so damaged. I think the city just forgot about it or doesn't want to waste the resources on it because of the neighborhood it's in." Leena replied quietly, obviously ashamed of her circumstances.

"Leena, you're a squatter. Do you even have power or running water?" Raph turned intense gaze on her, his question sounding angrier then he meant it to. He wasn't angry at her; he just couldn't believe she had to live like this. But Leena flinched at the sound of his voice.

"No… I just stay here for shelter and a place to keep the few items I have. I go to the local homeless shelter to bathe and sometimes get food." Her voice was almost a whisper.

"You can't live here… it's not safe." Raphael said, shaking his head.

"I don't have anywhere else to go Raph." Leena replied sadly. "It's just as unsafe in the homeless shelters when you're a girl… and people will steal your things if you aren't careful."

"But you can't live here either!" Raph replied, gesturing to the house. "That's not safe! What if there's structural damage to the house, or other squatters break in? Did you ever think of that?" Raph stopped for a moment, taking a breath to calm down. He was letting his temper take over and the last thing he wanted to do was yell at Leena just because she was trying to care for herself the best way she could. Obviously life had not been so kind to her. "You're coming back to the lair with me."

"No. I'm perfectly fine here." Leena replied with a shake of her head.

"No you're not. If you want any of the things you keep in there get them now, but I'm taking you back with me." Raph said.

"No I'm not. I can take care of myself." Leena said stubbornly, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Obviously not very well if this is the best you can do for yourself." Raph snapped back, feeling immediately guilty that he'd said it when a look of pure shame crossed her face. She dropped her gaze from Raphael and looked at the ground, obviously trying to hold back the tears he managed to see just before she'd looked away. "Leena, I'm sorry, that came out wrong…" Raph began, unused to apologizing. "Just let me help you ok? This isn't a place you should be. At least at the lair you'll be safe and we can help you figure out a plan for the future… that's what a friend does right?"

"Yeah… ok." Leena replied with a small sniff. "I'll get my things…" And with that, Leena trudged up to the house, pushed aside a loose plank on the boarded up door and slipped inside. A few minutes later she returned with a small backpack. "This is everything to my name." She said, still unable to look Raphael in the eyes.

"It's nothing to be ashamed of you know." Raph replied. "You obviously were trying your best to take care of yourself." He was trying to make amends for what he'd said to her earlier. "And if you're trying at least it means you haven't given up." Leena managed a small, though sad, smile at him and shrugged her shoulders. "Well let's get back… we have to talk to Splinter about this, though I'm pretty sure he'll help; its what he does." Raph gave her a hopeful smile in return and Leena nodded her head.

"Ok." She said.

"Leena, I am sorry… I didn't mean to hurt your feelings." Raph finally said.

"I… I know." Leena began. "It just hurt so much because you were right. And I was being stubborn because I hate relying on others; I don't like being a burden. I hate that feeling." Leena replied.

"You won't be a burden. In fact, it'll be nice to have someone new hanging around, might be a good change of pace." Raph said. Leena actually smiled at that comment and with a sigh of acceptance, laced her arm through Raph's.

"Lead the way good sir."

"Will do Miss." And the two of them headed back towards the Lair arm and arm.


End file.
